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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1189.PDF
26 August 1955 CANADIAN CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, LTD. T TNIQUE in the Canadian aircraft industry, if only for the sight*-' of buses and aircraft progressing along adjacent parallel assembly-lines, CanCar's plant near Lakehead Airport, FortWilliam, with a sound record of aircraft production in the past, is on the threshold of big developments. Apart from currentproduction programmes, the almost certain change in ownership bringing the company into the Hawker Siddeley Group willreinforce the Fort William facilities with strong backing on the aviation side, and should make the company's progress over thenext 12 months extremely interesting. Since last year, the company has completed its productioncontract for Beech T-34A Mentors for the U.S.A.F. and R.C.A.F. At the time of our visit to Fort William last month the last batchof completed aircraft was being readied for delivery to the U.S.A.F.; spares production was continuing. Among the produc-tion problems overcome in CanCar's T-34A programme were those of hot-forming bead-reinforced magnesium skins (mag-nesium being used for the complete tail unit, flaps and ailerons). Also recently completed was a sub-contract order from deHavillands for wings and tail surfaces for the D.H.C.3 Otter, for which programme the original de Havilland tooling was increasedand improved. A current development on the planning side is the trend towards an increased mechanization of the company's pro-duction-control systems, the aim being to reduce overheads and so reduce the price of the product—be it aircraft or coach. CanCar's pan in the Grumman CS2F-1 programme is the sub-contract production of the most complex section of the airframe— the entire wing, complete with folding mechanism. Work beganin November last, and the company has now tooled up for manufacture of the centre-section and outer wings. Ailerons,searchlight installation, landing gear support, flaps, spoilers, wing- tips, undercarriage doors and centre-panel components have inturn been subcontracted by CanCar to outside firms. A number of the Grumman-type jigs and fixtures have beencombined, in line with the lower production rate (two per month) planned at Fort William, and with the consequently reduced needto sub-divide operations to any great extent. The elaborate corru- gation-sandwich construction of the centre-section panels haspresented a major problem in drilling and riveting, calling for extremely fine accuracy over an exceptionally large number ofholes. Simplicity in design and construction is not a feature of the CS2F-1 centre-section, which is as a whole a most complicatedassembly, again demanding precision work to very close limits. The first wing assembly should be produced in the near future. Although the production of North American Harvards underlicence was completed last year, CanCar are still producing parts for this ubiquitous trainer and sending them to many parts of theworld. Last year's agreement with North American (world sales rights, excluding U.S.A., for Harvards and spares) included alsothe sale of a large stock of new and used spares, which are now almost completely filling one of CanCar's Lakehead hangars. At Fort William, CanCar's top executives have proved thatspecialization is not essential for efficiency in production; in general, senior staff are not duplicated in separate aircraft and busdivisions. This integrated approach, with the emphasis on efficient tooling and production methods, has certainly resulted in a note-worthy record on the aircraft side to date. The president and managing director of CanCar is Edwin J.Cosford, and L. A. Bruce is vice-president and comptroller. Divi- sional plant manager at Fort William is R. E. Henderson; otherofficials at the Fort William plant include W. Meder, general superintendent; L. B. Walker, chief engineer; and A. Norton, chieftool designer. CANADIAN PRATT AND WHITNEY ; ^ AIRCRAFT COMPANY, LTD. /CONTINUED widening in the scope of activities, and tooling-^ up for the production of Wright R-1820-82 Cyclones for the Grumman CS2F-1, have marked the progress of Canadian Prattand Whitney over the last year. A reduction in the production rate of P. and W. R-1340 Wasp engines has been accompaniedby a build-up of spare-parts production, so maintaining an even work-load prior to the production run of some 400 R-1820s. At the company's two plants at Ville Jacques Cartier, outsideMontreal, a total of 1,800 people are employed. The manufactur- ing division occupies approximately 340,000 sq ft of factory space,and over 75,000 sq ft is taken up by the overhaul and supply division. The possibilities of expanding the helicopter overhaulshop, producing helicopter components, and assembling complete machines are being studied at present. It was with the production of Pratt and Whitney Wasp engines,installed in Harvards, Otters and S-55s (among others), that the company commenced its manufacturing activity, and peak pro-duction of these engines was reached a year ago. As mentioned, the R-1340 engine production rate has since been reduced, andnow more than half the output of the manufacturing division 303 Mr. R. E. Henderson, divisional plant manager of CanCar at Fort William. consists of spare parts, including components for P. and W.R-985s, R-1830s and R-2000s in addition to those for R-1340s. The significance of the Government order for GrummanCS2F-1 aircraft for the R.C.N. is reflected this year in the work of many Canadian companies. In addition to the Wright engines forthis machine, certain of the Hamilton Standard propeller equip- ment for this aircraft is also to be manufactured by the CanadianP. and W. company. Delivery of both engines and propellers will begin this autumn and is expected to continue for several years.The Defence Department contract will certainly provide the com- pany with an excellent opportunity to market the Wright Cycloneon a commercial basis. While Canadian Pratt and Whitney gains much from the tech-nical experience of the parent company at East Hartford, Con- necticut, the aim over the past few years has been to develop theCanadian company as an independent unit (with the accent on flexibility of production), capable of establishing and maintaininga continuing business for both home and export markets. Although the commercial demand for new Wasp engines and parts wasartificially low in the past due to the availability to operators of war-surplus stocks, much confidence is felt concerning futureprospects, particularly in the transport field. The majority of parts produced at Jacques Cartier at present, incidentally, are peculiarto engines no longer on the production list of the parent company. The original machinery and equipment installed in the manu-facturing plant, which was built in 1952, was supplied under capital assistance by the Canadian Government, and a major steptowards independence was recently achieved with the completion of negotiations for the purchase by the firm of this equipment.The company is itself supplying the additional machinery and equipment required for its new production programmes. The overhaul and supply division of Canadian P. and W. con-tinues to handle the assembly, sale, overhaul and service in Canada of all the products of Pratt and Whitney, Hamilton Standard andSikorsky divisions of 5Jnited Aircraft Corporation, other than those made by the manufacturing division; and also handles thesale, overhaul and service of Pesco accessories. A fairly constant level of sales and of employment has been maintained in Overhauland Supply during the year. Should future requirements demand, the company is prepared to manufacture any of the United Air-craft and Pesco products which it sells and services at present. The chairman of the board of Canadian Pratt and Whitney isJames Young. Under the executive direction of Ronald T. Riley, president, the company is organized into three divisions: (1),Overhaul and Supply, headed by James Ross, who is also secretary of the company; (2) Manufacturing, divided into factory, engineer-ing and purchasing groups under H. C. Spence, R. H. Guthrie and M. D. Beech respectively; and (3) General Administration, res-ponsible under J. W. R. Drummond, vice-president, for sales and operations engineering and for field service; and under V. W.Tryon, treasurer, and G. G. Brooks, personnel manager, for all accounting and personnel matters. Canadian Pratt and Whitney's manufacturing plant at Jacques Cartier, outside Montreal, where Wright R-1820 Cyclones for the CS2F-I are to be built in quantity.
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